At least 15 people have died and a further 18 are injured after Lisbon’s famous Gloria funicular derailed and crashed on Wednesday.
The National Institute for Medical Emergencies said in a statement that five of the injured are in a serious condition and a child is among the injured. It says an unknown number of the injured are foreigners.
The UK Foreign Office has said it is aware of the incident and is touch with local authorities in Portugal.
"We stand by to provide consular assistance if there are any affected British nationals,” it said.
The yellow-and-white streetcar, which goes up and down a steep hill in the Portuguese capital, was lying on its side in footage shown on Portuguese television.
Its sides and top were partially crumpled, and it appeared to have crashed into a building where the road bends.
Several dozen emergency workers were at the scene, but most stood down after about two hours, and the streetcar’s sides and top were partially crumpled.
Authorities called it an accident, the worst in the city’s recent history.
The cause of the was not immediately known, local media said. It reportedly occurred at the start of the evening rush hour, around 6pm.
An investigation into the causes will begin once the rescue operation is over, the Portuguese government said in a statement.
Lisbon Mayor Carlos Moedas told reporters at the scene that the city was in mourning. “This was a tragic accident … It’s a tragedy of the like we’ve never seen.”
President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa offered his condolences to the families affected by the accident, which happened during rush hour.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen also sent her condolences. “It is with sadness that I learned of the derailment of the famous Elevador da Gloria,” she wrote in Portuguese on X.
The streetcar, known as Gloria, can carry more than 40 people, seated and standing. It is commonly used by Lisbon residents.
Two streetcars run parallel to each other as they shuttle up and down the hill on a curved, traffic-free road for a few hundred metres.
It is classified as a national monument.
Lisbon hosted around 8.5 million tourists last year, and the streetcar is a popular attraction.
